Rich Peet wrote:
> I prefer not to walk in the woods at night with my parabolic and that
> seems to be when I enter for deer. It is a pain. For deer and for
> stalking I pickup my shotgun mic. But the types of sounds you are
> after you may prefer a omni. Keep in mind your minidisc recording in
> mono is 160 mins. You can locate the prime location setup in a tree
> and leave. That likely will get you better results.
Since I record frogs, which is almost entirely done at night I've gotten
pretty good at carting a parabolic around in the dark. I'm less used to
shotguns, and the MKH-816's are long, so it's great fun so far trying
not to hang them up on something. I'm sure I'll get used to them too.
The near mandatory wind protection is also not very brush friendly and
you sure do not want to snag it. My Telinga is less likely to be damaged
in a encounter with brush.
> The Telinga dish and other good parabolics have to have their mold
> made from a computer manufactured model. My dish seems to have a 5
> degree viewing angle and maybe Klas will tell us exactly what his is
> designed as, but it seems to be a bit more friendly and around 15
> degrees.
My experience is that the prime focus of a telinga is probably tighter
than 5 degrees as long as you have the mic accurately in the focus. I'm
often dividing little groups of frogs that are only a few degrees apart.
With the DAT Stereo mic it sounds wider because the stereo field is
wider, but the high gain is a small angle. The focus is more obvious
with the Dual Science mic element.
You can hand make a parabolic mold without using a computer. But it's
not something for the unskilled and requires lots of back and forth
between a curve and the material. Easiest way by far to do this is start
by using a good parabolic as a pattern and avoid all the calculating and
so on. Making a mold off a existing parabolic is fairly easy to do in
fiberglass.
I'm sure that all the commercial parabolics have their own custom
designed molds.
> Keep in mind what you lack in equipment right now you can make up for
> with the experience you have from spending time in the field. Since
> I've been recording my stalking and tracking skills have improved
> many fold.
I would not agree completely on this. But there is certainly plenty to
learn. And stalking and tracking is a skill that's satisfying in it's
own right. But you cannot entirely substitute that for equipment. In the
early stages of becoming a nature recordist you will often be equipment
limited. You learn a lot about getting the best out of what you have.
I could probably get real close to the deer out in my front field at
night. Particularly if I just parked out there in the car. But I doubt
being able to get all that close moving through brush or even along a
woods trail.
Walt
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